Bani: The Secret Town of Pangasinan

Last November 18-20, Experience Philippines decided to explore a quaint town of Bani, Pangasinan for one of our Random Road Trips. When we hear about Pangasinan, we usually associate it Bolinao or Alaminos. But right in the middle of Alaminos and Bolinao, there is this amazing town that is known for its watermelon farms, salt making and hidden waterfalls

Bani, is a second class municipality of Pangasinan. It is roughly six hours away from Manila. You can’t miss Bani, if you are heading towards Bolinao. The town is known as the Pakwan Capital of the Philippines. In fact, you will see a big number the watermelon vendors on the side road selling different sizes of juicy thirst quenching watermelons.

Bani Tourism

Far left – Sir Romel Dulay

We are very lucky to have coordinated our visit with Mr. Romel Dulay (0928 244 5119). Even though there a huge event happening in Bani during our visit, he took time off from his busy schedule to show us around the different beautiful hidden destinations in Bani. Because of Sir Romel, we were able to appreciate the hidden wonders of Bani, Pangasinan.

Of Rachel Grant and Caves

Bani has one of the most complex and biodiverse cave systems in Northern Luzon. But among the most extraordinary cave is the unexplored Angel Cave. It is a class 1 cave with a great number of natural pools, stalactites, stalagmites and helictites (calcite formations that grow sideways).

Fun fact: Rachel Grant who was doing an outreach program in the communities in Bani is one of the first person to enter Angel Cave in 2012. Check out her registration on the picture below.

Unfortunately, the Angel Cave, at present, is not yet open to the public as the rules and regulations have to be set so that this class 1 cave can be preserved and used a research environment for us to have a better understanding of the cave networks and the unique life found in this area.

Turquoise Blue Waterfalls

Tucked away in a small village in Burgos, Bani is Sangbay Falls. To get to the falls, you have to literally hike on 80 degree steep hill and afterwards, go through a forest to see this majestic turquoise colored falls. It was definitely worth the trip to jump in the cool spring water.

How to Get There

Traveling to Bani, Pangasinan is easy as there are regular buses plying this route. If traveling via public transport:

Take a 5 Star Bus bound for Bolinao either in Cubao or Pasay.

Go down at the town proper of Bani.

Proceed at the tourism center and look for Sir Romel.

Travel time is approximately six hours. Daily buses travel to this area. To move around, it is best to rent out a tricycle at the town proper since most of the sites and destinations are rough roads.

Other Places To See

Aside from the caves and waterfalls, Bani is known for salt-making. It is in fact one of the primary produce of Bani which produces over a million kilos of salt in a year. The salt farms are located in Abunsiang, Tambac Bay.

Of course, one cannot miss out the water melon farms. Every January, the city of Bani celebrates the Pakwan Festival. During the festival, the local get to showcase different kinds of watermelons from oddly squared shaped to small and humungous watermelons.